Baltimore County police on Monday identified the man killed by a resident in an Essex home invasion .
Police said Kenneth David Cox, 24, of an unknown address, was killed Sunday by the resident of an apartment on 1400 block of Strawflower Road.
Detectives said the incident is not random, but have not provided information about any relationship between the resident and his alleged assailants.
Police said Cox and another armed man forced their way into the apartment, where one of them shot the resident several times in an altercation before he hit Cox in the head with a blunt object, killing him.
The resident was taken to an area hospital where he is being treated for his injuries. Police said they are not identifying him for safety reasons.
The other suspect fled. Police did not have a description of him.
Cox was charged in a non-fatal shooting on August 6, 2010 on the 1200 block of Punjab Drive in Essex, according to court documents. One person was shot in the forearm and a second was shot in the face, the documents said.
Andrea E. Jaskulsky, who represented Cox, said a jury found him not guilty because of an issue with witnesses to the incident.
"The jury just didn't believe he had anything to do with it," she said.
She said she saw Cox recently and said he was working at a fast food restaurant and living with a girlfriend in Baltimore.
"He looked good. He was just a soft-spoken, nice young man. From my observations, he was trying to make a better life for himself," she said.
In 2011, Cox pleaded guilty to violating his probation after a 2008 incident in which he was charged with second degree assault and disrupting school operations.
Jaskulsky did not represent Cox in that case but said it was an incident at school. He received a one-year sentence and 18 months probation.
Anyone with information about the home invasion is asked to call county police at 410-307-2020.
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